Love and Collaboration

Les Franklin addresses the noontime gathering at Infinity Park Event Center. Photo by Steve Peterson, Special to The Denver Post

Keeping a careful eye on expenses is Job One these days, especially for a charitable organization like the Shaka Franklin Foundation for Youth.
So when it came time to plan the signature fund-raiser, the Love Our Children Luncheon, executive director Marianne Franklin did everything humanly possible to keep expenditures to a minimum so that income would be at a maximum.
She switched venues, choosing the willing-to-negotiate event center at Glendale’s Infinity Park over a hotel whose fixed costs preclude much haggling. She engaged a caterer (Epicurean) that also was willing to wheel and deal. So much so that boss Larry DiPasquale encouraged her to call on others to contribute to the meal.
Epicurean did the chicken salad entree, and dessert was a collaborative effort. Plates in the center of each table contained cupcakes from Lovely Confections, brownies from Bluepoint Bakery, lemon bars from New York Deli News, individual cheesecakes from Steven Roberts Original Desserts and chocolate chip cookies from the Doubletree Hotel at 3203 Quebec St.
WeDeliverCoffee.com stocked the coffee bar, Nestle donated bottled water and Tom Wright of Wright Event Services cut a deal for the tablecloths and flatware. Instead of renting cloth napkins, Marianne had some lower-cost paper ones made with with the foundation’s logo printed on them.
The money she was able to save, said her husband, Les, will fund three months worth of services at the Shaka Franklin Foundation for Youth. Les Franklin started the foundation following the suicide of his teenage son. Its staff and volunteers offer programs designed to keep young people on a positive track so that other families won’t have to experience a tragedy like the Franklins did.
The 19th edition of the luncheon took place April 17, and while 600 tickets were sold less than half attended, thanks to a spring snowstorm that worsened about an hour before the lunch began. Mark McIntosh, co-host of the “Colorado & Company” television show, was master of ceremonies and Sean Porter, whose work with juvenile offenders in California was the inspiration for the 2006 film “Gridiron Gang,” delivered the keynote address.
Les Franklin has been passionate in his mission to eliminate teen suicide, but admitted at the lunch that he is preparing for the day when he’ll “pass the baton” to the next generation of leadership. “I’ll be 70 on July 28, and it’s time for us to start lining up those who can take my place.”
He also pointed out that while funding remains a problem for all charitable organizations, including the Shaka Franklin Foundation, it has fared better than most. “Our investments have gained,” he said, “not much, but they haven’t lost. And with help from our Latino friends and the Denver Broncos we have been able to finish the construction at Shaka’s Place and install 18 new computers.”Read more about who was at the luncheon in Joanne Davidson’s Inside Line column that will appear in the April 21 Denver Post. Pictures taken that day are now ready for viewing at denverpost.com/seengallery